CHAPTER 14

Session Four

In this session: • Review of sessions one, two, and three • Using the skills in realism • Lines that are questions • Phrasing • Phrases within phrases • Punctuation marks • Next assignment • Selecting sonnets • Scanning difficult lines • Short lines • More on the OED

Coach: Let’s review what we have so far as part of our scansion. (Various actors name end-of-line support, feminine endings, identifying trochees, marking the hard and soft stresses, elision, and caesuras.) Right now, one more thing about kicking the box, as related to prose rather than verse. The modern playwrights write in prose. But look on page 36, the first example of realism in the chapter. Somebody read the first line of Octavius, from Shaw’s Man and Superman. (Ryan does. He reads it naturally.)

As you did not support the end of the line, the last phrase, let’s do it again. (He does, this time giving some support to the final phrase, “as to me.”) Can you all hear the difference? (They do.) Now, as you continue, put some support under any word that is followed by any punctuation mark. (He reads the entire speech, supporting the last word in each phrase.) Good, let’s do Alfieri in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge, on the same page. (Amber does. She supports the final phrase in each line.) Good. What about the line with the question mark? “You see how uneasily they nod to me?” From other acting classes, you probably already know the answer to my next question. What’s a basic rule to remember about question marks?

Bride: Don’t put a question on a question because it’s already a question.

Coach: Good. Just say the line. It’s already a question. (She reads the line again, this time without an upward inflection at the end.) Good. Everybody hear the difference? (They do.) Of course, you can play a question mark if you do it by choice—if you think the line requires it.

Look at Shakespeare’s prose in the next speech—Sir Toby Belch. (Alex reads the speech. He doesn’t allow the ends of lines to sag.) Good. Now read it badly. (He does, allowing the ends of lines to fade.)

Ryan: I saw that production. In fact, I think I was in it. (Laughs. Others acknowledge that they have also acted realism and allowed the ends of lines to fall way.)

Coach: So consider this a little bonus from the Shakespeare workshop: When handling realism, you can use some of these same verse skills. What a bargain! Those of you currently in rehearsal for a realistic play, check your ends of lines and see if you’re supporting them.

Today, before we refer to our monologues, I want to work on the next skill—it’s actually on page 24 in chapter 3 of the book, some of which I already have on the board. Who wants to be the volunteer? (Bridgett goes up.) We’re talking about phrasing. What is a phrase?

Emily: I read the chapter. It’s an individual thought. It’s an idea surrounded by other ideas, but it can stand alone.

Coach: And if the actor runs phrases together, the thoughts get run together, and the audience misses at least one and maybe both thoughts. So we look at the language and say, “Where does this break up?” Some actors mark phrases with caesuras while others circle them. It’s hard to circle them in the book, so I used the caesura. But for rehearsal, I think circling is easier to see, and there’s always the possibility that you may want to use a caesura at a place that isn’t a phrase—like setting up an individual word.

Let’s read Brutus’s first four lines to the conspirators, on page 24, in chapter 3 of the book, beginning with, “What you have said I will consider.” (She does.) Where do you think the first phrase is?

Bridgett: “What you have said I will consider.”

Coach: Everyone agree?

Amber: No. I think it would be “What you have said.”

Coach: Because “I will consider” is a new idea. (Bridgett agrees that this is better.) Yes, because Brutus is acknowledging that he has heard what they said, but now he’s going to think about it. Please circle those phrases. (She does.) Now we have two phrases. So take the next line. (She marks it.) That’s right: “What you have to say” and “I will with patience hear.” Break the phrases up with a caesura and read it. (She does.) Notice how the break allows the listener to hear both ideas?

Bride: How long should that caesura be?

Coach: That’s up to you, and the way you elect to play Brutus. It could be just the slightest bit of air, almost no space at all. Or it could be a reflection moment. That’s what rehearsal is for, to find the answer to that question. All of the skills you learn are to prepare you for rehearsal. If you know what the language is doing before rehearsals begin, you can then use the rehearsal period to work on relationships and character, which is what rehearsal should be. If you already have your words, in rehearsal you can decide who the person is that uses them.

Maggie: And that’s your character.

Coach: Right. We won’t look at character yet. First we discover what the language is doing and what options it offers us. Then we use it to discover and play a character.

Let’s do the next lines. (Bridgett reads them and circles the phrases.) Yes, “And find a time” is one, and “Both meet to hear and answer,” and “such high things.” Notice that if there is punctuation, you don’t need a caesura, because the punctuation already allows you to pause. Now read the entire speech, using the phrases. (She does, and it makes sense.) What about “meet”—how do we know how Shakespeare is using the word?

Alex: We’re going to look it up in the OED.

Coach: Right. Because you don’t want to assume you know the answer. You may be surprised. Let’s read the speech again and give you a hypothetical situation, to help you slow down and think with each phrase. These guys come to you with a scheme to hold up the 7-Eleven, and you have the only car. You don’t want to offend these guys, but you’re also not sure you want to get involved. Read it with those thoughts. (She does.) Now, for a few minutes, everybody walk about and work on this speech, using the phrases. But first, what is a simple technique when using phrases? Any phrase, set within a line, how do we handle it?

Bride: Say it how it’s written.

Coach: But how is it written? Try the line.

Bride: “Till then, my noble friend, chew upon this.” Just like that.

Coach: What is the phrase inside the line?

Bride: “My noble friend.” (She reads the line again.)

Coach: What did she do?

Bridgett: Her voice went down.

Coach: She used a slightly different pitch with “my noble friend,” setting it aside, so to speak. You can also look at it this way: She put “then” and “chew” on the same note, but lowered “my noble friend,” thus making something different of the inside phrase.

And notice what you can do with “my noble friend.” Say the line to a person you don’t really trust. (Bride does.) Now to a person who is indeed your dear friend. (She does.) Now to a person known to you as courageous. (She does.) Because she has learned how to set aside the phrase, do you all see how her character can use that? (All agree.) All try it. (They walk around, working on the speech with various degrees of success.)

Alex: Would “chew” be a trochee?

Coach: Yes. Everybody see that? (All do.) Let’s do the rest of the speech. Who will do it? (Kristin goes to the board, reads the speech, and marks the phrases. We come to an agreement on the phrases.) Notice the last line—called a short line. It is usually completed by the next speaker, as it is in this case, but it might be a short line that simply has a pause following it. Most people believe that’s a direction from the author to take the pause, or to insert a physical action to fill the space, then continue the rhythm of the lines. Notice anything in the last four lines of the speech?

Kristin: Looks okay to me.

Maggie: There’s no punctuation.

Coach: Right. Four lines without punctuation. When we get to our next skill, which is breathing, let’s remember these four lines. Basically, you speak them without a breath. Anyone want to try? You need to get a real deep breath after “this”—then you can make it. And you must have enough breath left to support the end of the speech. (Almost everyone tries and succeeds.) Most of you rushed. Try again and realize that you have the breath and don’t have to rush. (All do.) If you run out of breath, you can’t support the end. Then you’re weak. For an actor, strength comes from breath.

Jumping ahead, there are directors and coaches who don’t believe you should breathe at the punctuation. They might tell you to breathe elsewhere. But for learning to handle the language, breathing at the punctuation points works. Later you can adjust, if it’s necessary.

Amber: Should we breathe at every punctuation mark?

Coach: In learning the material, yes. That forces you to deal with each phrase, each idea, and forces you to keep breath power. But later, after you’ve learned the material, simply remove breaths you don’t need. And you also may have to add some. But eliminate and add breaths by choice, not by shooting from the hip.

We’ll do breathing skills next time. But planning ahead, as you begin memorizing your speech, mark and memorize your breathing points at the same time. Then you’ll never run out of breath. Now, we have phrasing as our third skill. For next time, read chapter 5 on breathing. But now, before we check out our sonnets, which we haven’t done yet, let’s all get on our feet, walk about, and work some more on the Brutus speech, playing all the phrases. (All work on this for some time, then a few read the speech aloud with correct phrasing. Then we take a break.)

Coach: (After the break.) Let’s look at our sonnets, see what you’ve selected, and hear you read them through once just for sense. (Everyone identifies his or her sonnet. They select numbers 120, 30, 75, 65, 14, 107, 27, 78, and 29. One actor is absent. Everyone reads his or her choice aloud.)

Notice that almost everyone forgot to kick the box, and we just worked on that skill. And notice that nobody has any idea what anyone is talking about. That’s how difficult these sonnets can be. But for the most part, everyone went so fast that Shakespeare went on without us. You did not give us time to deal with the ideas of each phrase before you went on to the next one, and the sonnets are packed with ideas and images. We’ll do imagery later. For now, type your sonnet—triple-spaced so that you have room for notes—look up your words, mark your scansion, and work out the phrasing. Then we’ll read them again at the end of the workshop and you’ll give them to me so that I can see your analysis work on something other than a monologue.

Often, a major mistake is not catching the listener with the first two lines. If I miss the sense there, how can I understand line 3, etc.? And notice that lines nine through twelve are usually the hardest to clarify. The rhyming couplet is usually lovely and easy to understand. If you have forgotten sonnet structure, refer back to chapter 9, pages 66–69.

We take some time here to discuss a few of the thoughts discovered in the sonnets and to identify some very difficult phrases and lines. We also discuss the possible objects of the sonnets, Shakespeare’s patron and his “dark lady.” This leads to a discussion of patronage of the arts and how that works today compared to how it worked in Ancient Greek, sixteenth- and seventeenth-century France, and Elizabethan times.

Coach: As you probably know, Shakespeare dedicated his sonnets to a patron. In his time, patronage of an artist was a class act, with even the Queen supporting a troupe of actors—Shakespeare’s company, actually. Does anyone know a patron of any artist today? (Nobody does.) I’ve known a few, and these were kept hush-hush. But in earlier times, in Greece, France, England, Germany, Italy, and other places, it was common to sponsor an artist.

Today, in America, sponsorship of artists is a rare thing, primarily delegated to state and federal funding. But the federal funding, the National Endowment for the Arts, is so strapped for money that the amount it allocates to each state each year—to support all of the arts in that state—isn’t enough to build one military airplane. And there is always a group of conservative congressmen trying to deny all funding for the NEA. So the NEA has to fight just to get the pittance it does receive. It’s not a healthy picture, so many deserving artists never receive the funding that would allow them to devote themselves to a project full-time. Oh, well, get me off my soapbox. Let’s continue.

Please pass out a copy of your monologue to each other actor. (They do.) This is so we can easily follow your monologue as you begin work on it, and so we can take notes as we listen. The notes will be shared with you every time you do the monologue. On your personal copy you’ll mark your complete scansion. That will become more and more complex as we add skills. So far you have three skills, plus their offshoots. All of that needs to be on your copy by our next workshop.

For today’s workshop you were invited to bring any really difficult lines from your monologues, lines you just can’t scan, and place them on the board. We’ll work them out together. Does anyone have difficult lines? (Most do.) Then two or three people put their lines on the board. (They do.)

Everyone find the monologues from which these lines are taken, then we’ll work them out. (We all find the monologues and wait for the difficult lines to be written out.) Now we have the lines, so let’s work them out. From The Taming of the Shrew:

We need an elision (or an anapest) for the first foot. Amber selects the anapest. From The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

The line has twelve syllables, so we elide “injurious” (to be pronounced “in-jur-yous”) and use the feminine ending for “honey.” Next, also from The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

The line has a trochee on the third foot and maybe a spondee on the second foot. From Measure for Measure:

The line has nine syllables, but the ending is regular, so the simplest solution is to stretch out “Die” a little and let it be the first foot. Next, from Titus Andronicus:

The line has eight syllables and there are no one-syllable words that can be spoken as two syllables, so we read it as eight with a blank foot at the end. We suggest a brief action or pause to fill that beat because the short line is not completed by the next line.

Coach: Most directors believe that the missing beats call for an action that will continue the rhythm—you’re missing a “dee-dum”—so take a moment to decide what you’re going to say next—a natural pause.

Ryan: I think he might laugh to fill the foot.

Coach: That would fill the beat. Next time we’ll put up the other lines people have, then we’ll go on to breathing.

Be sure to look up all your words before you try to complete your scansion. Know what everything means. The good old OED! Is anyone using the online version?

Alex: Yes. I paid the $30 for the online version. It’s ten times faster because you go right to the word rather than paging through a huge book.

Bride: I have a regional library card from home and found out that it gives me an automatic membership for the OED. My library subscribes, so I can use my library card number and get the online version.

Kristin: I like the books myself. You surround yourself with them and feel like you’re soaking up all the words in the English language. It takes longer, but I enjoy it.

Coach: See you all next time.